John: Fall in love with Strider
by Ava L. Noble
Summary: I have no idea what I'm doing. Basically it's a cliche high school AU in which there are shenanigans and fluff. JohnxDave, DavexJade, JohnxVriska and RosexKanaya are the focus pairings. T for safety
1. Begin

== BEGIN

Your name is JOHN EGBERT. You are excited and just a little bit terrified.

You are excited because today is your first day of high school. You are terrified because it's your first day of high school in a new town wherein you have no friends, save for your adopted sister Jade, who totally doesn't count because she's your sister and she lives with you.

You never worried much about your appearance before today, because you'd never moved before, so it wasn't such a big deal. The only time you remember fussing over your clothes and hair this much was your first day of kindergarten, because shit, you were five and it was your first day of "big kid school". After about twenty minutes of holding up shirts to your chest and comparing sweaters, you realize it's stupid and pull a plain blue sweater over a white button-up shirt, jeans, and black Converse over your tall, skinny frame. You stare at your hair for a minute, then give up on that entirely. It would look the same at the end of the day as it did now, you figure, so you push your rectangle glasses up your nose and admire your handiwork.

"John! Hurry up! We're going to be late!" calls Jade from somewhere on the lower level of the house. You scoop up your book bag on the way out, turn, and salute your ConAir poster. As soon as you're downstairs, a piece of toast is ungraciously shoved into your mouth.

"Eat, eat, eat, hurry up!" Jade says. She's clad in a long denim skirt, brown work boots, and a green shirt with various plants on it. She's jumpy and rather adorable, but you wont say that out loud because she's your sister and NO. Her brown hair is pulled back in some kind of fancy braid that she did herself because she's good at things like that.

"Jade, stop jumping! You're going to hurt yourself! Besides, we have plenty of time." You say, wiping toast crumbs off your face. You finish off a glass of milk and Jade thrusts a lunchbox into your hand and pulls you by the arm out the door. You barely get to say good bye to your father before you and your sister are running full tilt to the bus stop. You glance at your watch. 7:32. Class starts at 8:10. I roll your eyes in Jade's general direction.

"Oh! John! I almost forgot!" She drops her bright green bag on the ground and kneels in front of it, unclipping something from on of the zippers. She dangles the accessory in your face. It's a little yellow salamander with a bright blue tongue.

"What's that for?" you ask.

"Luck, I suppose. I don't really know what. I just felt like you ought to have it." She clips it onto your bag and gestures to a blue-colored string tied around her thumb. She pulls her backpack up onto her shoulders in time for the bus to pull up in front of you. Your bus driver is oldish and not completely unattractive.

"This is the bus to the high school, right?" You ask, stepping up into the vehicle gingerly. The bus driver nods and ushers you and Jade onto the bus. Not quite at ease yet, you find a seat and pull your bag onto your lap, and Jade follows suit. You look around, more and more nervous and excited and terrified as time rolls on. The first thing you notice is the boy across the aisle, slouching against the wall of the bus, taking an entire seat to himself. His hair is blonde- Really, really blonde. His skin is pale, like he never sees the sun, which he probably doesn't behind those large, dark, and pointed shades that hide his face. You can just barely make out a line of light freckles across his nose. He's got large headphones around his neck and you suppose he's looking at an iPod or similar device. He's clad in jeans and a red long-sleeved shirt, with a white shirt pulled over it. There's a design that looks like a broken record on it. A dull red bag is pushed half under the bus seat.

Your name is JOHN EGBERT, and you are suddenly debating your sexuality.


	2. Quit that

John == Stop questioning your sexuality and be the other guy

You can't be the other guy yet! He just got here! You don't even know his name yet!

Fine. John == Be Jade instead

That's better.

You are now JADE HARLEY-EGBERT. You were Jade Harley, but John and his dad were kind enough to take you in! You think they were very kind to do that, so now you're Jade Harley-Egbert.

You are currently on a bus. It's not really crowded and not very loud. You're very excited for your first day of high school.

"Hi there! I'm Jade!" You say to the boy in the bench next to yours. You look back at John, technically your brother, and he shakes his head at you, eyes wide. You poke his arm and look back at the other boy. He glances up at you, but looks back at his music player in almost the same moment.

"Forgive my cousin. He doesn't speak much." The girl behind you leans over the seat, a book in hand. She's blonde, like the boy, but not quite as dramatic. Her eyes catch your notice first. They're light purple, and you're not sure if it's natural or colored contacts. "I'm Rose, but the way. Rose Lalonde."

"Nice to meet you, Rose Lalonde! I'm Jade and this is my adopted brother, John!"

"Well, we adopted her." He says.

"The pleasure is mine." She shakes both yours and your brothers hands. "I wouldn't have guessed the two of you to be siblings." she adds.

"We get that a lot. Most people think we're dating." says John. You look over at him. It's true; the two of you look noting alike aside from large eyes and slightly bucked teeth. But John is tall and thin, and you're considerably shorter and a bit pudgy. John's hair is black, yours is rusty brown. His eyes are really really blue, yours are emerald green. John's skin is pretty pale, but yours is lightly tanned all the time.

"We're not quite siblings, though." you interject.

"Yes, adopted family. I see. You must be new, also, if you're trying to talk to Dave. Everyone from around Skaia knows he doesn't say much. Hardly even smiles." She glances at him. "Don't let it get to you, though. It's just him being him."

"Why does he wear those?" John asks.

"What, the glasses? If you ask him, he'll tell you it's because it's ironic or cool. Most of us just think he doesn't want us to see his eyes." Lalonde explains.

"Why not?"

"Because he's albino."

"Rose! Are you talking about me? I thought I told you not to do that." The first words Dave utters are not the kindest, you notice.

"Well, you weren't speaking much, so I thought I'd do it for you."

Dave shakes his head and is once more impassive.

"Is he like that all the time?" John asks.

"Yes, he is. Doesn't speak if he can avoid it. Doesn't smile. Hardly does anything but listens to his music and plays with his shitty swords as far as I know."

"Really? That's... Kinda cool! Actually, that's really cool!" you say before you can stop yourself.

"You know it." Dave mutters without looking up. You swoon inwardly. John shoots you the look of are-you-serious.

"I don't actually live with him, though we share a neighborhood. He lives with his older brother."

"What about parents?" you ask.

"Don't bring them up. You won't hear him say it, but he gets touchy if you bring them up. They don't live with him, no. They, ah- We don't know what happened to them. They just left one day and left Dirk in charge."

"Dirk? That's his brother?"

"Yes. It's just the Strider boys now. I don't really recommend going to their house, though. It's a mess." At this time, the bus comes to a stop and both Rose and Dave collect their things. "Are you coming?" Rose asks. John and yourself hurriedly collect your things and make your ways off the bus, nodding at the driver as you leave.

You both stand stock-still in front of the building, which is quite possibly the largest high school you've ever seen.

What do you do?


End file.
